Allie stepped outside in her tan coat and hat with matching leather boots that she picked out herself, ready to walk into a new day. She was on her way to see her friend, Nadia Jamir, who had called her earlier that morning. Allie had called her back and told her that instead of them talking to each other on the phone; she would just come over to her house so that they could talk in person. Allie came up with this idea because she felt like she really needed someone to talk to, and she just needed to get out of the house for a while. Her Mom was at work and wouldn't be home until late and Brad would be going to his part-time job pretty soon. Allie didn't like being at home alone, but she had learned to deal with it at an early age. But lately, with everything that was on her mind, it felt a lot more stressful to be alone with just her thoughts and with her memories.
As she walked towards Nadia's house, Allie saw an entire world that was moving forward, business as normal. But for Allie, it was all she could do to just deal with life one day at a time. She had come a long way since that night when she went to the Eighties dance. At least once every day, she thought back to what had happened to her after the dance. She thought back to fighting Dean in the backseat of his car with every ounce of strength that she had in her body, and about how much stronger than her he was. She also thought about the drive back from the point, where Dean had driven her up to. He didn't say a word to her on the way back and she felt too catatonic to even utter a sound. Dean brought her back to Degrassi, which was completely deserted since the dance had ended hours before. When the car stopped, Dean reached over and opened the passenger car door and she got out. Allie then walked over and sat on a bench that was outside of the gymnasium and watched, as his dark blue Mustang peeled out and took off. She just sat there, for what seemed like an eternity, feeling numb and cold on the outside, and within.
Finally, she willed herself to get up and begin her long walk home. She took the spiked heel pumps that she was wearing and just threw them as hard as she could into a swollen creek bed that she had passed on her journey home. When she made it to her house, her mother was asleep on the sofa. It looked like her Mom had been waiting up for her. Allie figured her Mom was probably tired from a hard day at work, so she just let her continue to sleep. Since Brad was out with his girlfriend, the house was totally quiet. Allie just walked back to her room and took off the hot pink dress she had been so happy to get for the dance. She had brought a garbage bag from the kitchen to her room and threw the dress inside of it, tying the bag shut. She had intended to take the dress and burn it the next day, but it just wound up in a dumpster behind a local restaurant near her house. After tying the bag up, Allie went and took the longest shower of her life. She just stood there, wishing the running water would just wash the entire night away. She stayed in there until the water had turned cold. When she finished, she got out and got ready for bed. There was no way she was going to go to sleep, so she just lay there, crying and trying to block out the memory of what had happened. Eventually, she was able to cry herself to sleep.
While Allie ran that same memory through her mind for the millionth time, she suddenly realized that she had made it to Nadia's house. Allie had promised herself that, even though she had told Nadia and the others about what had happened, she would never go into details about it, especially with Nadia. Allie knew how emotional Nadia could get when it came to her. Kendra had told Allie about how Nadia started crying when they thought that Allie might've been thinking about committing suicide; it happened on the night when they all came over to her house. Allie didn't want to upset Nadia with those details or with the ones regarding the nightmares she had been having. So, no matter what, she would keep all of that to herself. Allie rang Nadia's doorbell and waited for an answer.
"Hi, come on in." Nadia said as she answered the door.
"Hi." Allie replied as she stepped inside and took off her coat.
Allie followed Nadia as she wheeled back to her bedroom. When Allie entered her room, she could see Nadia had been at work on something major, judging by the way all of her papers and books were scattered on her bed and all over the floor.
"So, what have you been up to?" Allie asked her.
"I've been working on a proposal to get rid of Genetically Modified foods in the cafeteria." Nadia replied.
"GM foods? But I thought you, Ashley, and Emma already made a presentation to Raditch last year, and that he turned you down flat?" Allie asked her.
"We did, but this presentation isn't for Raditch, we're taking it directly to the school board." Nadia revealed.
"The school board, why are you doing that?" Allie continued to inquire.
"Well, the school board is having another meeting in a few days where they are going to make any final amendments to their agenda for the rest of the school year. The three of us figured if we could get them to listen to us directly, maybe we could get their support for our proposal. We know we may be wasting our time, but it's still worth a shot. Anyways, Emma, Ashley and me have been going back and reworking our presentation from last year, we're trying to make it more convincing. I've finished reworking my part and I need to get it over to Emma's as soon as possible. I would take it now, but since I'm still recovering from being in the hospital, it's still a little too far for me to wheel to right now. I'll have to wait until my parents get home this evening." Nadia told her.
"I can take it after I leave here, it's no problem." Allie volunteered.
"That would be great, but are you sure?" Nadia asked her with an ecstatic expression.
"Of course, it'll give me something to do later on." Allie reassured her.
Allie sat there as Nadia started gathering her research papers and putting them together. Then she said something else to Nadia.
"So, where is this romantic gift I heard you got from Lee?" Allie asked her.
"Oh, here it is. It's this necklace that I'm wearing." Nadia said as she removed the necklace and handed it to Allie.
"Wow, this is so beautiful." Allie said as she inspected the heart shaped locket. She then read the inscription on it.
"L.R. loves N.J. 4ever. That is so romantic Nadia." Allie told her as she handed it back to her.
"I know, I could hardly believe it when he gave it to me."
"So, are you two an item again?" Allie asked her.
"Yeah, Lee's been such a sweetheart lately. He's either come over here or he's called me every single day since holiday break began." Nadia told her.
"That's," Allie said, "because he's head over heels in love with you. But how do you feel about him?"
"I think I'm falling in love too." Nadia admitted.
"That is so wonderful." Allie told her, happy for her friend.
Allie and Nadia talked for a few more hours until Allie reminded Nadia that she had better get going if she was going to drop off her work at Emma's house. So Allie put everything into a book bag that Nadia gave her and the two went to Nadia's front door. Nadia told her thank you, again, for volunteering to help her out. Allie told her that she would call her again before school started back. Allie then walked out to the sidewalk and began her journey to the Simpson-Nelson residence.
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Next Chapter: Allie and Emma seem like they are so different from each other, but are they really?
